F1 GP Malaysia, Free Practice 1: Red Bulls very fast in the rain, Verstappen in front

It is the rain that is the protagonist for most of the FP1 in Malaysia, with the drivers forced to run only on full wet and intermediate tyres. However, it was the two who dictated the pace Red Bull, very fast with Verstappen in the lead, author of the best time, 1:48.962. Third place for McLaren di Alonso, who came close in the final minutes of the session, finishing a second and a half from the top. Raikkonen, Vettel, Hamilton, Bottas, Stroll, Gasly and Sirotkin complete the top ten.

News – The Malaysian circuit did not disappoint, being flooded with rain on Friday morning, with the start of the first free practice session being delayed by 30 minutes due to too much water on the track. In addition to Pierre Gasly, Kvyat's replacement at Toro Rosso for the Sepang and Suzuka rounds, on Friday morning there are also Leclerc, Sean Gelael, Sirotkin and Giovinazzi busy on the track respectively in place of the official drivers Ericsson, Sainz, Hulkenberg and Magnussen.

At 11.30 local time the green light comes on in the pit lane. The two Ferraris and Alonso are the first to test the asphalt conditions, all on full wet tyres. Stroll Massa and Leclerc take over from the top three and return to the pits. Little by little the others join in, while Force India, Mercedes and Red Bull hesitate in the pits. After the first installation laps the track falls silent again. Halfway through the session Ocon is the first to go out on intermediate tyre, followed shortly after by Perez. However, the first time was given by Ricciardo, 1:55.601. Vettel gets in front of him in 1:54.463, and then touches Verstappen, in 1:51.201. With about thirty minutes to go, Verstappen is in the lead ahead of Ricciardo, Vettel, Kimi, Hamilton, Perez, Bottas, Sirotkin, Ocon and Vandoorne.

Ricciardo returns to the lead thanks to the best time of 1:51.194, Bottas takes fifth place, behind the two Ferraris, with Kimi third. So Stroll's Williams took third place, while Ricciardo dropped to 1:49.719. A small hydraulic problem was found on Massa's Williams, which prevented him from turning enough to stop the clock. Verstappen regains the lead, in 1:48.962. Hamilton is third, two and a half seconds from the top. Alonso snatches the place from the Briton in the final minutes. The checkered flag takes us back to Free Practice 2; the two Red Bulls ended the morning in the lead ahead of McLaren.

F1 GP Malaysia – Times, results and laps Free Practice 1